The Woman Who Is Going to Stop the War

The Woman Who Is Going to Stop the War
Version 2

by Stella Stacy

(00:02.58) This one, who was a woman, was arrested there — perhaps at that place — "shutting her in house" as they call it. (00:32.4) This one, therefore, must have done something.

This one, a woman, said, "I will tell you something that I know. (00:44.7) This, this war, caused this injury, as these men of every kind fought one another like that, and it would be good if they ceased. (01:01) They are finished, and never again should they have such a war, and then they made one like this, in such a way that they will always share a good heart. (01:19.8) So I believe that they must make life good. (01:24.9) That’s what I believe, so, that’s what I’m saying," that’s what she kept saying, (01:33.3) (referring to) those different people who were fighting.

(01:37.5) Of the various (people), there was a man of languages who used to return. (01:42.8) When he returned, there sitting down, he would always tell them of it in this way. (01:47.8) And they would say to her, "You speak the truth. You speak the truth," they would say. (01:56.6) When they returned there, and men were grouped together by their tribal language, and this one again thus he would always tell them that. (02:03.2) Indeed everyone liked it, and also said, "His dear sister speaks the truth," they would say. (02:14.9) And this one, a woman, this was what she had said. (02:18.6) There, from that time on, the fighting stopped. So ...

Commentary. "shutting her in house" — ciónąsáre, which is ci-hónąsáre, where ci means "lodge, house," and hónąsá means, "to stop up, shut in." So ciónąsá meant "to shut in [a] lodge," an expression appropriate to the old Bear Clan lodge where prisoners were incarcerated before they were punished. The members of the Bear Clan were mą̄́ną̄́pe, conventionally translated as "soldiers," but a term that also denoted what we now call "police." There was no lock on the lodge entrance, so prisoners were secured in place by the posting of a guard. This lodge was located opposite that of the chief, and, as it happened, if a war captive could burst through the door flap and make it to the chief's lodge opposite, he would be spared and admitted to the Thunderbird Clan. Whether this was also true of those held for crimes is unclear.

"injury" — hot’ék, which usually means, "bruise."

"they are finished" — referring to the men who are returning, or more likely, to the end of the war.

"they made one like this" — this appears to be a reference to a peace treaty, perhaps the armistice of 1918. Indeed, what war is this? Most of these tapes a set during the War of 1812:

During the mid-1920s, Milford G. Chandler, an engineer by trade and folklorist by avocation, recorded ninety cylinders of oral data. He focused primarily on tales from the War of 1812. His major informant was Oliver Lamere, a Winnebago man who collaborated with a number of field researchers, among them the anthropologist, Paul Radin.¹

Could this have been set during the War of 1812? It would explain the multi-tribal character of those returning from their military expedition. However, many units in WWI were composed of members of a single tribe. Furthermorre, it is difficult to explain how in 1812-1814 she could have been locked up for opposing the war. Certainly not by the Big Knives, who wished the tribes to withdraw from the conflict altogether. Was she arrested and confined by the Hōcągara? This doesn't seem very plausible. On the other hand, in WWI many draconian laws were passed against those who wished to oppose the war, and at the same time, women were far more active in public affairs, as in the anti-alcohol crusades, and the post-war suffragette movement. So it seems more plausible that we are dealing with WWI in this case, which is made possibe by the recognition that the stories were "primarily" from the 1812 period.

"a man of languages" — by which she means someone who could serve as a translator.

"he would always tell them of it in this way" — that is, he would translate for her.

"his dear sister" — ’nųkjı̨́cábra, a front clip of hinųkjı̨́cábra, where hinųk means "woman"; and -jį, short for -xjį, is an emphatic which, when used with kinship terms, expresses endearment. The suffix -cábra, means "his". A possessive suffix attached to hinųk, "woman," denotes a sister, the standard word for sister being hinúkwacabᵉra, hinųgwácabwįrà, "our woman." It is interesting to note that the Proto-Indo-Europeans, who may have had the same Crow-Omaha kinship system as the Hōcągara,² also had the exact same concept of sisterhood.

I.E, s^wesor was compounded of the reflexive base *s^we-, "his, one's own" (see sui), and -sor, "woman", from I.E. ser, "woman", ... Accordingly sister orig. meant "the woman belonging to one's own kindred".³

This parallel arises from a patrilinear clan system in which sisters were married out to another clan, but were still regarded by her male relatives as being a member of their clan, and therefore "their" woman.

The men who are hearing the woman's opinions through the translator, are conceptualizing her as being of the translator's tribe, if not his clan, at least from the perspective of Hōcągara, who imagine that that is how they themselves would conceive of her relationship to the translator.

"So ..." — the audio tape ends with the word ésge, "so".

Notes to the Commentary

¹ Carol F. Inman, "The M. G. Chandler Collection: A Case Study for Reappraisal of Archival Materials," Resound. A Quarterly of the Archives of Traditional Music, 2b-3a [2b].
² German Dziebel, "Crow-Omaha Kinship: Revitalizing a Problem or Generating a Solution?" Kinship 1, #2 (2021): 1-23. For a contrary view, see Bradley Ensor, "Commentary on German Dziebel: Crow-Omaha and the Future of Kin Term Research," Kinship 1, #2 (2021): 24-67.
³ Dr. Ernest Klein, A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language (Amsterdam, London, New York: Elsevier Publishing Co., 1971) 687b, s.v. "sister."

Source

Stella Stacy, "A woman who is going to stop the war," reading by Sheila Shigley, from audio tapes in the American Philosophical Society. Fraenkel, Gerd. Mss.Rec. 29, recorded 11 July 1959, 1 .mp3; 00:00:24.45 - 00:02:22.32. Copy made by Gerd Fraenkel of an original tape held at the Archives of Languages of the World, Indiana University. This program comes from original tape 525.9-10. APS accession number 7246; APSdigrec_0943; Recording Number: 02; Program Number: 04.